Normal Speech and Language Development of Children Ages 0-7
Below you will find some helpful information that you can use to gauge the development of your child. These milestones are general and small fluctuations may be seen. When a child is missing a number of the given milestones an evaluation by a Speech-Language Pathologist is recommended.
At age 0 to 3 months, your child . . .
- Exhibits an undifferentiated cry
- Produces some vowels such as ah, eh, uh
- Produces a small variety of non-cry sounds
- Exhibits a differentiated cry Is cooing/gurgling
- Produces single syllables
- Begins blowing bubbles
- Has a startle response to loud sounds
- Visually tracks while on back
- Moves eyes toward a sound and attends to a voice
- Fixes gaze on spoon or bottle
- Watches light
- Briefly holds and inspects 2 objects (1-4 months)
- Puts objects in mouth
- Briefly looks at people
- Follows moving person with eyes
- Hands are predominantly closed
- No reaching/grasping objects
- Opens/closes hand when touched
- Quiets in response to sound especially speech
- Reacts to paper or cloth on face
- Raises head when face down
- Smiles/coos in response to another smile/voice (1 – 4 months)
- Excites when a caregiver approaches (1-4 months)
- Is aware of strangers and unfamiliar places (1 – 4 months)
- Cries differently when tired, hungry, or in pain (1 – 4 months)
At age 3 to 6 months, your child . . .
- Begins to babble with double syllables, nasal tone, and/or using /m/
- Begins to vocalize pleasure and displeasure
- Stops vocalizing when an adult enters
- Begins to self-initiate vocal play
- Coos, chuckles, gurgles, and laugh.
- Babbles to self, others, and objects
- Babbles with pitch and inflection changes
- Vocally expresses eagerness
- Anticipates feeding when sees the bottle
- Watches movement patterns
- Smiles at the sight of a face
- Recognizes spoon or bottle
- Laughs when playing with objects
- Raises head and chest when on stomach
- Puts objects in mouth
- Watches his/her hands
- Plays actively when propped up for 10-15 minutes
- Looks intently at, reaches for and then shakes a rattle when put in hand
- Pays attention to cube on table
- Generally inspects surroundings
- Smiles and touches mirror image
- Increases activity at the sight of a toy
- Works for a toy out of reach
- Head control established at midline
- Bangs with object held in hand
- Transfers object held in hand
- Rolls over both ways
At age 6 to 9 months, your child . . .
- Uses m, n, t, d, b, p in babbling multiple syllables
- Songlike intonational patterns
- Uses wide variety of sound combinations
- Imitates intonation and speech sounds in his/her won repertoire
- Reduplicative babbling begins – bababa
- Attempts to imitate gestures
- Understands parental gestures
- Looks at some common objects and family members when named
- Understands “no” – stops on command
- Interest in pictures maintained for full minute while they are named
- Searches for partially hidden objects (4-8 months)
- Bangs objects together
- Performs many actions on objects – shakes, tears, slides, mouths, rubs
- Imitates ringing of bell
- Grasps a dangling object
- Explores a toy with fingers and mouth
- Sits without support
- Uses finger and thumb to pick up small objects
- Drinks from a cup
- Uses hands and eyes together
- Imitates arm movements
- Bangs spoon on a table
- Pulls self to a standing position
- Crawls on stomach
- Initiates vocalizing to another person
- Enjoys being played with (4-8 months)
- Different vocalization for anger, contentment, hunger, etc.
- Recognizes familiar people (9 months)
- Imitates familiar sounds and actions
At age 9 to 12 months, your child . . .
- Vocalizes and jabbers loudly using a wide variety of sounds and intonational patterns
- Uses most sounds (consonant and vowel) in vocal play
- May acquire the first true word any where from 10-18 months old
- Begins to combine different syllables during play
- Will give a block, toy, or object on request
- Understands and follows simple commands regarding an action
- Looks in a correct place for out of sight toys
- Turns head when someone says his/her name
- Understands the meaning of hot
- Indicates displeasure when a desired object is removed
- Gestures and/or vocalizes to indicate wants/needs
- Begins to play with toys appropriately
- Deliberately drops toys and watches them fall
- Plays ball with another person
- Puts objects in and takes objects out of a large container
- Holds a crayon and imitates a scribble
- Takes a few steps with help
- Stacks rings on pegs
- Throws objects intentionally
- Shouts to attract attention
- Shakes head “no” and pushes object away
- Waves “bye” A
- ffectionate to familiar people
- Begins directing other people through pushing, pulling, etc.
- Holds arms up to be picked up
- Stranger awareness begins
- Participates in pat-a-cake, peek-a-boo, etc.
- Begins to repeat actions when laughed at
- Reaches to request an object
- Begins to imitate new sounds and/or actions
At age 1 to 1 ½ years, your child . . .
- Uses sentence-like intonations called jargon
- Uses most vowels and consonants in jargon
- Omits final consonants and some initial consonants
- Basically unintelligible (not understandable) with the exception of a few sounds
- Words produced with a consonant-vowel (CV) combination such as bo/boat
- Accurately imitates some words
- Follows simple one-step commands
- Points to recognized and wanted objects
- Begins to “possess” specific objects
- Points to one to three body parts on command
- Identifies two or more pictures from a group
- Perceives others’ emotions
- Uses three to 20 words of which 50% are nouns
- Average length of a response is one or two words
- Vocalizes with gestures
- Says “all gone” and “more”
- Answers question “what’s this?”
- Engages mostly in solitary play
- Participates in continual walking activities and begins to run (stiff and awkwardly)
- Scribbles spontaneously with a crayon
- Can remove mittens, socks, hat, and can unzip a zipper
- Beginning of problem solving (opening doors, reaching high places)
- Imitates many actions such as sweeping and combing hair
- Pulls or carry/holds toys
- Very rapid attention shifts
- Brings object to show an adult
- May begin to use word approximations to request objects or attention
- Says “bye” and a few other ritual words which may include “hi”, “thank you”, and “please”
- Protests by saying “no”, shaking head, or pushing toy away
- Comments on object/action by directing someone’s attention through pointing and vocalizing/word approximations
- Answers simple what questions with a word approximation (may be unintelligible)
- Acknowledges the speech of another by looking at them, vocally responding, or repeating the word
- Teases, scolds, or warns with a word approximation
At age 1-1/2 to 2 years, your child . . .
- Uses mostly words, jargon usually gone by about age 2
- Approximately 50 recognizable words
- Asks questions by a rising inflectional pattern
- Improvement of intelligibility – about 65% intelligible by age 2
- Appearance of words produced with a CVC pattern such as hot
- Uses names of most familiar objects
- Either uses the animal name or sound
- Verbalizes toilet needs (closer to 2) either before, during, or after the act
- Identifies and names at least 5 pictures by age 2
- Says own name upon request
- Verbalizes immediate experiences
- Combines two words into phrases and may use three- to four-words
- Begins to use some verbs and adjectives 1/3 of utterances are nouns
- Comprehends about 300 words
- Listens to a story and pictures as they are being named
- Points to five body parts or more
- Responds appropriately to yes/no questions
- Discriminates food from other objects
- Follows directions using one or two spatial concepts (i.e. on/in)
- Negation used in the form of “no” (no bed)
- Possessive emerging (daddy car)
- Refers to self with pronoun and name (me Kurt)
- Plays near others but not with them (parallel play)
- Talks to self as he/she plays
- Has little interest in what others say and do but gives hugs, pushes, pulls, grabs, and defends rights by pulling hair and kicking
- May not ask for help
- Strings beads
- Puts blocks in a wagon instead of building with them
- Relates action to another object like combing a doll’s hair
- Likes to play with play dough
- Less rapid attention shifts
- Names objects in front of others
- Says ‘what’s this’ to elicit attention
- Begins using single and two words to command (“more”), indicate possession (“mine”), and express problems (“owie”)
- Participates in increased verbal turn-taking
At age 2 to 2 ½ years, your child . . .
- Should be understood about 70% of the time
- Might leave off final sounds in words
- Might substitute one consonant for another
- Understands about 500 words
- Can listen to a short story
- Can follow two directions at a time
- Uses about 200 words
- Can answer “where” and “what ? doing” questions
- Uses two pronouns correctly
- Uses “in” and “on”
- Combines three to four words in a short sentence
At age 2 ½ to 3 years, your child . . .
- Should be understood about 80% of the time
- Can use these sound in words: p m n w h
- Understands about 900 words
- Can listen to a 20 minute story
- Understands in, on, under, big, little
- Matches colors and shapes
- Uses about 500 understandable words
- Answers simple yes/no questions
- Answers simple who, what, why where, how many questions
- Asks simple questions
- Begins to use “is” and more pronouns
- Verbally express their emotions
- Uses words to get your attention
- Uses language in imaginative ways
- Has short conversations
At age 3 to 3 ½ years, your child . . .
- Uses final consonants in words most of the time
- Can be understood by you all of the time
- Understands about 1,200 words
- Understands the concepts: in front, behind, hard/soft, rough/smooth, circle, square,
- Follows simple two step directions
- Uses about 800 words
- Answers simple “how” Asks “what” and “who” questions
- Labels or states actions Uses “is”, “are”, and “am” in sentences
- Combines 4 and 5 words in sentences
- Is beginning to play cooperatively with peers Is beginning to share
At age 3 ½ to 4 years, your child . . .
- Uses the following consonants correctly: b d k g f y
- Can be understood by an unfamiliar listener all of the time
- Understands 1500 to 2000 words
- Can follow directions involving three actions
- Is beginning to recognize colors Uses 1000 to 1500 words
- Tells about two events in order
- Asks “how”, “why”, and “when” questions
- Has long, detailed conversations
- Can tell a story
- Uses pronouns correctly, he, she, I, you, me, mine
- Likes to pretend and role play
- Can be bossy and likes to correct others
- Beginning to tell jokes and teases others with language
At age 4 to 4 ½ years, your child . . .
- Should be very easy to understand
- Understands the concepts: top/bottom, above/below, between
- Can recognize two to three colors and name one color
- Can count to 10 Can tell the function of some objects
- Uses good imaginative play
- Combines four to seven words in sentences
- Uses the pronouns, “our”, “they”, and “their”
- Uses this, that, here, and there
At age 4 ½ to 5 years, your child . . .
- Uses most consonant sounds consistently but not in all contexts
- May have difficulty with some consonant blends
- Understands 2500 to 2800 words
- Knows the following concepts: heavy/light, loud/soft, like/unlike, long/short
- Identifies most primary colors
- Answers simple “when” questions
- Asks the meaning of words
- Is able to tell a long story
- Uses “his” and “her” accurately
- Uses five to eight words in a sentence
- Is able to play cooperatively in groups of two to five children
- Is beginning to develop friendships
At age 5 to 6 years, your child . . .
- Is using the consonants, t, ing, and l consistently in words
- Understands 13,000 words
- Understands opposites
- Understands the following concepts: yesterday/tomorrow, more/less, some/many, several/few, most/least, before/after, now/later, across, pair
- Names basic colors
- Can tell how objects are the same and how they are different
- Can state the order of objects: 1st, 2nd, 3rd
- Names the days of the week
- Uses all pronouns consistently
- Uses comparatives and superlatives: er and est endings in words
- Is able to play games by the rules
At age 6 to 7 years, your child . . .
- Has mastered the following consonants: sh, ch, j,voiceless th ( r, s, z, and voiced th could take until age 8 to master)
- Understands 20,000 to 26,000 words
- Understands seasons and concepts of time
- Can state personal information, address, phone, etc.
- Can answer “why” questions Uses “have” and “has” correctly most of the time
- Can tell a story with a well developed plot and characters in sequence
- Uses irregular plurals with more consistency
- Can spend hours on one activity
- Enjoys spending more time alone in play
- Enjoys games and funny books
Some information taken from the Speech and Language Development Chart by ProEd.
Remember these ages are approximations; there is always an average range. If you have questions and concerns please call the Speech Therapist as listed by school. Speech, Language & Motor Development Milestones KidsHealth